1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking assembly of a retractable handle for wheeled luggage, and more particularly to an improvement of the locking assembly accommodated between the sliding tube and the support tube of a retractable handle for wheeled luggage.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically a convenient pull-handle is provided on a wheel luggage that can be easily pulled in the streets. Further, the pull-handle of most types of luggage is retractable for being stowed away when not in use and extended when needed.
A prior art retractable handle system is shown in FIG. 1. The handle system comprises a handle grip H, a pair of up-side-down L-like shaped members L, a bezel assembly P, a pair of sliding tubes A, a pair of locking assemblies B, a pair of sleeve members C, a pair of support tubes D, and a base E.
Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown an enlarged portion of the sliding tube A, the locking assembly B, the sleeve member C, and the support tube D on the right side of the prior art handle system of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1 again, a screw H2 is threaded through a hole H1 on an end portion of the handle grip H to an upper hole A1 of the sliding tube A for holding them together. The sliding tube A is inserted through the up-side-down L-like shaped member L and the bezel assembly P. Consequently, a locking pin B1 is inserted through a lower hole A2 of the sliding tube A and a hole B2 of the locking assembly B for holding them firmly. The sleeve member C is inserted into an upper portion D2 of the support tube D in which a pair of projections C3 (only one is shown) of the sleeve member C are clung to a corresponding pair of recessed portions D3 of the support tube D for providing the fit setting of the sleeve member C into the support tube D.
As to the operation, the locking assembly B is slidable within the support tube D. A lowest position of the locking assembly B is on a bottom of the sleeve member C. A spring B3 and a ball B4 are provided to be engaged with an upper hole D4 and a lower hole D5 in order to lock the locking assembly B in the hole D4 or D5.
In terms of the engagement of the sliding tube A and the support tube D, it is frequently designed that the locking pin B1 is inserted through the sliding tube A and the locking assembly B for being engaged against the support tube D. However, such a pin connection is slackened after a frequent and/or long time use. Accordingly, the operation of the retractable handle is not sufficiently smooth. Further, the diameters of the locking pin B1 and the lower hole A2 should be well matched. Otherwise, it is difficult to assemble them if the tolerance between the locking pin B1 and the hole A2 is relatively large. As a result, an additional cost will be spent on the manufacturing process in order to remedy them. Even worse, the quality of the retractable handle is poor.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved locking assembly of a retractable handle for wheeled luggage to overcome the above drawbacks of prior art.